My name Amanda, I am 18 years old and I come from Sweden. My family consists of four people; myself, my younger brother and my parents. Japan has always been a country that really fascinates me since its very different from Sweden. Japan also manages to combine old culture with the modern times of today, which is another reason to why I want to learn more about this country and its culture and language. I had been studying the Japanese language for about one year before I came to Japan. My life as an exchange student is full of new experiences and adventures. Life in Japan and life in Sweden is very different from each other. For example in Sweden the students dont have to wear a school uniform and there are no club activities at school. During my stay in Japan I have experienced a sports festival for the first time as well as been to a summer festival with my host family. At the summer festival I tried a lot of the various games you could play and even though some were very difficult (like trying to catch goldfish) it was very fun. Japanese food is also different from Swedish food. In Sweden we eat a lot of pasta, meat, and bread and not so much fish and rice like people do here in Japan. As an exchange student, in the beginning, the biggest obstacle is probably the language and adjusting to a new environment. But with the help of the new friends Ive made here in Japan as well as my host family I feel like every day it gets a little bit easier to understand the Japanese language and customs. I still have a lot to learn about Japan but I am very much looking forward to it. Hello, my name is Cecilie. I am 15 years old and I come from Denmark. I chose to be an exchange student because I like to learn new languages and to experience new cultures. One of the reasons why I chose to come to Japan is that Japan always has been fascinating me. I donåft know why, I have just always been knocked on it. Another reason is that IÅfm obsessed with Anime and Manga, and my interest for Japan grew bigger that way. I started taking Japanese lessons in Denmark, because I think that Japanese is a nearly unique and beautiful language. And it could be awesome to speak plain Japanese, but there is still a long way for me to go. I find it very interesting to go to Japanese high school. Well, school is still school no matter where it is. But itåfs still different in some way. Like, for example, in Denmark we donåft have to wear a school uniform. We donåft have that many tests either, and itåfs mostly up to ourselves whether we want to learn something or not. And we donåft have to go to high school. If we want to, we can go straight to some educations. Japanese high schools also have some different subjects, like PE (Power English). From my point of view, Japanese students are very hard working where Danish high school students might be a bit more relaxed. So far Japan is just as I imagined. And I really love it here. ItÅfs going to be one of the biggest adventures in my life. And IÅfm looking forward to all the other experiences. IÅfm going to get here.

Hello Nishi Luke Danker Hello, everyone. My name is Luke Danker, and I am the new Assistant Language Teacher at Kochi Nishi Senior High School. I come from Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. As my mother is from Japan, I have already spent time in this beautiful country a number of times previously. However, this is my first time in Kochi, so I am experiencing a whole challenge and adventure. I am now enjoying comparing and contrasting high school life in Japan to that of Australia, having gone through the Australian school system. As the world continues to get smaller, I believe that the significance of language and cross-cultural communication is only going to grow. I feel privileged to play a small part in this. While in Japan, I also hope to continue growing as a person, and to spend time with my loved ones and friends. For leisure, I enjoy travelling to different places, eating delicious foods, and listening to various types of music from around the world. I look forward to the rest of my time here, and I hope to gain as much positivity, knowledge and experience as possible. Thank you for making me feel welcome.

B